Spool construction



April 14, 1959 E. J. i-IUBBARD I 2,881,986

' SPOOL'CONSTRUCTION Fil ed March a, 1956 Egzf I.

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Eber J. Hubbard, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The American Pulley Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 8, 1956, Serial No. 570,270

1 Claim. (Cl. 242-11841) The present invention relates to the construction of shipping spoolsfor wire or the like and is, more particularly, concerned with the provision of a novel, inexpensive, spool and an improved method of manufacturing the same.

The problem of shipping or otherwise handling the larger sizes of wire in an inexpensive manner has always been diflicult. In the past such spools have very often been constructed of relatively expensive metal capable of withstanding substantial winding stresses. Such metal spools have, however, ordinarily been of sufficient expense to make their reclamation and reuse common practice.

The present invention, on the other hand, provides an extremely inexpensive spool capable of withstanding ordinary winding pressures and shipping shocks. At the same time the materials utilized in the construction of the present spool are inexpensive and the method of manufacture provides an unusually strong spool at a minimum of cost. For example, it has been found that spools constructed in accordance with the present invention may be made of reinforced paper, cardboard, or other similar inexpensive material since the relationship of the parts and the method of assembling them provides maximum strength from such material.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a relatively thin walled spool core is provided. This core may be constructed of several thicknesses of paper or, if desired, thin sheet metal. A pair of head disks are provided with tapered apertures and a pair of end plugs likewise having tapered external surfaces, which are driven into the ends of the cylindrical tube to provide a tight wedging securement of the heads to the tube. In one embodiment of the invention the tube is itself outwardly expanded by the plug into contact with the internal surface of the head while, in another embodiment, the head and the core are bridged by the tapered surface of the end plug. In both embodiments of the invention hereinafter described, the tapered plug provides extreme resistance against movement of the heads away from each other under winding forces and, further, prevent collapse of the core, to thereby provide an extremely rigid spool construction.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a substantially improved spool constructed of inexpensive material.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a spool having a thin-Walled cylindrical core cooperating with the spool heads in a flaring manner to prevent separation of the latter therefrom.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of manufacturing an inexpensive spool.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel spool construction wherein a relatively thin-walled spool core is secured to the spool head by means of a pair of tapered plugs operating to provide a tight wedging co- 2,881,986 Patented Apr. 14, 1959 "ice action operating to secure the spool heads to the core in a rigid manner. I

A feature of the invention lies in the provision of a continuous cylindrical spool core constructed of material capable of radially outward deformation without splitting Lo povide a wedging fit with an expanding plug and spool Still another feature is the utilization of centrally positioned spool core plugs capable of supporting the spool for winding and unwinding operations and simultaneously operating to provide the means for rigidly securing the spool core to the spool head.

Still other and further objects and features of the present invention will at once become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the attached drawings wherein two preferred embodiments of the invention are shown by way of illustration only, and wherein:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of a spool constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view in cross-section taken along the line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partially assembled view of the spool parts as shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of a modified form of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a partial side elevational view taken along the line V-V of Figure 4, in cross-section; and

Figure 6 is an exploded view, in part, of the spool construction shown in Figure 5 prior to assembly thereof.

As shown on the drawings: i

As shown in Figures 1 through 3, a first embodiment of the invention comprises a spool generally indicated at 10 having a relatively thin Walled cylindrical core 11 secured in a pair of spool heads 12 and 13 by respective plugs 14 and 15. For purposes of reducing the expense of the unit it is preferred that the spool core 11 be con structed of multiple layers of paper bonded together by glue or other adhesive. Likewise, the spool heads 12 and 13 may be constructed of any relatively rigid materials such as for example those products formed of byproducts of the Wood industry commonly known as card board, pressed Wood or the like. While such materials are, of course, substantially less expensive than metal or plastics such latter materials may be utilized in cases where expense is not critical.

In the construction of the spool, the core 11 is initially formed as a straight tube, as illustrated in Figure 13.; The spool head 13 is provided with a frusto-conical aper, ture 16 having a minimum diameter at its inner side, as at 16a, which is substantially equal to the outside diameter of the core 11. Likewise, the plug 15 has a frusto-conical construction with a tapered outer periph-' cry 17 having a minimum diameter'as at 17a substantially equal to the inside diameter of the tube 11. Where the parts 11, 13 and 15 are all constructed of wood products or the like, or other similar glueable material, glue is preferably provided on the surfaces 16 and 17 and the plug 15 is then forced toward the core 11 as shown in Figure 3 expanding the core into an outwardly flared condition shown at 18 in Figure 2. It will be seen that with the parts in this assembled relation forces applied in the direction of the arrow 20 in Figure 2, against the spool heads, will merely cause a tighter fit of the heads of the core 11 and destruction of the spool by forces of this type is practically impossible.

It is contemplated Within the scope of the present invention that the core 11 be constructed of wound paper having glue or other adhesive between successive layers to provide an extremely rigid structure after the adhesive has dried. In the manufacture of the device it may, de-

pending upon the adhesive, be desirable to assemble the structure While the glue forming a part of the core 11 is aswet-incompletely"set, thereby permitting a certain amount of slippage between successive layers of material at the outwardly flared portions 18. Under such circum- *starrces; after the glue has set and'the' parts are in-their assembled condition .an extremely rigid structure is'provided. "It'will be recognizeiin addition, that many matterials may be satisfactorily used in" the core 11 which are capable of 'radially'outward deformation -into the shape shown 'in' Figure 2up'on theapplic'ation of sulficient axial pressure to the core 15 in the direction of the arrow 21 during assembly. This latter method of con- 'struction" is'also satisfactory for use'with the multi-layer paper construction above discussed where it is impractical to handle-the core during an'interim period in which the glue or other adhesive has not hardened.

In themanufacture of the spool heads 12 and 13 it is preferred that the plugs 14' and 15 comprise an integral part of the stock from which the heads 12 and 13 are made. Thus, the heads 12 and 13 may be cut from plain stock'and the frusto-conical walls 16 and 17 may be formed by a single saw cut made by a saw having an "effective cutting width nog'reater than the width of the wall of the core'11. In this manner, a great saving in material is achieved'and an extremely tight fit is also assured. The apertures 14a and 15a'may then be provided for supporting the spool on a mount for winding or distribution purposes. With this arrangement, the cores 14 and 15 provide locking means for retaining the parts in their assembled position andalso provide support means for pivotally mounting the spool.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 4, and 6, a spool generally illustrated at 100 is provided. As there shown, the spool comprises a relatively thin walled core 110, a pair of spool heads 120 and 130 fixedly secured to the core'110 by the respective cylindrical plugs 140 and 150. As may be seen, the heads 120 and 130 are provided with a frusto-conic'al internal diameter 121 and 131, respectively, which is only slightly greater than the inside diameter 111 of the core'11 0. The respective plugs 140 and 150 are provided with frusto-conical portions 141 and 151 extending an axial distance A substantially greater than the'thickness of the heads and reaching a minimum diameter 142 and 152 substantially equalto the inside diameter 111 of the core 110 at a point substantially inwardly 'of the ends of the latter.

As in'the'case of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 through 3, the core 110 is initially constructed insubstantially tnle cylindrical form. On assembly of the [parts shown in Figure 6, however, the end 112 of the core 110 is outwardly flared to provide tight wedging contact with the surface 151 of the plug 150. At the same time, the wedge surface 151 tightly contacts the internal surface'131 thereby positively securing the head 130 to the core 110 The head 120 is similarly secured to'the core 110 as illustrated in Figure 5.

As in'the embodiments above described relative to Figures 1, 2-'and 3,"the materials of the spools shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 are preferably inexpensive wood by- "produ'cftypes. In the' assembly of the spool glue may be applied to the outer surface of the plugs 140 and 150 and the plugs then pressed axially inwardly of the core in the direction of the arrow 160 until the ends of the plugs are essentially flush with the outer ends of the heads. In such assembled condition the coiling of wire about the spool core 110 will aid in maintaining a radially inwardly acting force against the plugs and 'tendingto' maintain them in position and axially outwardly acting forces, as indicated at the arrow 200, are unable to separate the parts in View of the wedging surface 151.

In the embodiments illustrated, it has been observed that the ends of the" spools provide a smooth, or flush, configuration. It will be understood that either the core ends 18 or the plug 150 (or 140) may extend outwardly beyond the spool heads somewhat afterassembly of the spool. Such projections may be retained, if unobjectionable from an appearance standpoint or they maybe shaved off flush subsequent to the final assembly. In the embodiment shown in Figures'l through 3 the projecting portions 18 that extend beyond the spool head may, if desired, be spun over radially inwardly to provide a locking lip positively preventing disassembly of the parts. This construction is'particularly desirable where the core 11 is constructed of sheet metal or similar easily spun material having relatively inferior gluing properties.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a novel and substantially improved spool construction and method of manufacturing the same. It will further be apparent that variations and modifications may be made in the structures shown by way of illustration above, without departing from the scope of the novel concepts'of the invention and it is, accordingly, my intention that the scope of the invention be limited solely by that of the hereinafter appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

The method of manufacturing a spool comprising providing a cylindrical core tube and a pair of head disks, cutting a frusto-conical annular slot in each said head disk of a width substantially the thickness of'the wall Iofsaid core tube to provide a cylindrical head and a plug having complementary tapered inner and outer peripheries'respectively radially spaced by a space corresponding to the width of said slot, placing said 'head about the end of'said core and'forcing said plug into said tube to flare said tube into wedging contactwith'said head and said plug.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,176 Crocker May 20, 1902 775,994 Smith Nov. 29, 1904 872,480 Tilden Dec. 3, 1907 1,781,801 Baldwin 1 Nov. 18, 1930 

